Checkmate in Boating magazine

[CMK]

2021 Checkmate Pulsare 2400 CD Boat Test, Pricing, Specs | Boating Mag

The Checkmate Pulsare 2400 CD is a high-performance boat with multiple capabilities.

www.boatingmag.com

 

[Glenn Kornett]

2021 Checkmate Pulsare 2400 CD Boat Test, Pricing, Specs | Boating Mag

The Checkmate Pulsare 2400 CD is a high-performance boat with multiple capabilities.

www.boatingmag.com

I saw that report before. I assume that is the Pulsare with the composite construction and notched transom? They claim it drives better with less chine walking. My 2020 Buycrus 24 Pulsare / 300R runs about 73 - 74 mph with a 24P Bravo FS prop. The new owner of Tom's 2020 BRX / 300R (last Bucyrus boat) said he had to get out of it at 73 mph due to chine walking but once he has more seat time felt it would run close to 75 mph. So the prop slip on those two boats is around 10% and the prop slip on the Caldwell boat was 20% with the same style prop but more pitch. The speeds are similar on all 3 boats. Of course the people testing the Caldwell boat might have had the jackplate or trim not adjusted as efficiently as possible or the engine might not be broken in but since it turned 6300 rpm, the slip is much higher. I wonder if that is due to the notched transom or just engine height / trim adjustments. Not enough trim or engine height could also increase the slip %. However if the speed is almost the same, (it probably accelerates slower with a 27 pitch versus our 24 pitch), if it handles better, they quality is better, and it is all composite, those are all good attributes.
Did you see the list price at $126,000 !!! The guy that bought Tom's BRX told me he could not be happier, and looking at the upcharge for composite, and better handling, better quality, it would be a tough pill for me to swallow. However, in Caldwell's defense, I think the price of building boats has increased significantly due to shortages and demand. You have to pay $90 - $120K for a decent Tri-Toon right now as well.

 

[Glenn Kornett]

I saw that report before. I assume that is the Pulsare with the composite construction and notched transom? They claim it drives better with less chine walking. My 2020 Buycrus 24 Pulsare / 300R runs about 73 - 74 mph with a 24P Bravo FS prop. The new owner of Tom's 2020 BRX / 300R (last Bucyrus boat) said he had to get out of it at 73 mph due to chine walking but once he has more seat time felt it would run close to 75 mph. So the prop slip on those two boats is around 10% and the prop slip on the Caldwell boat was 20% with the same style prop but more pitch. The speeds are similar on all 3 boats. Of course the people testing the Caldwell boat might have had the jackplate or trim not adjusted as efficiently as possible or the engine might not be broken in but since it turned 6300 rpm, the slip is much higher. I wonder if that is due to the notched transom or just engine height / trim adjustments. Not enough trim or engine height could also increase the slip %. However if the speed is almost the same, (it probably accelerates slower with a 27 pitch versus our 24 pitch), if it handles better, they quality is better, and it is all composite, those are all good attributes.
Did you see the list price at $126,000 !!! The guy that bought Tom's BRX told me he could not be happier, and looking at the upcharge for composite, and better handling, better quality, it would be a tough pill for me to swallow. However, in Caldwell's defense, I think the price of building boats has increased significantly due to shortages and demand. You have to pay $90 - $120K for a decent Tri-Toon right now as well.

Another reason for the high 20% prop slip could be the Sportsmaster lower unit on the 300R. Not sure if that was a typo in the article or if it really did have a Sportsmaster lower unit. I have recently tried a 24 ProMax prop and in 58*F weather I finally ran 76 mph @ around 6348 rpm by raising the jackplate another 3/8". So the 24P ProMax ran best around 3/4" higher than the 24 Bravo FS. The ProMax is almost out of rpm, if everything was just right, it might run 77 mph but that would be it. A person in FL purchased Jupiter Pulsare's boat, installed a 300R and has also run 76 mph with a ProMax prop.

 

[jjg]

I saw that report before. I assume that is the Pulsare with the composite construction and notched transom? They claim it drives better with less chine walking. My 2020 Buycrus 24 Pulsare / 300R runs about 73 - 74 mph with a 24P Bravo FS prop. The new owner of Tom's 2020 BRX / 300R (last Bucyrus boat) said he had to get out of it at 73 mph due to chine walking but once he has more seat time felt it would run close to 75 mph. So the prop slip on those two boats is around 10% and the prop slip on the Caldwell boat was 20% with the same style prop but more pitch. The speeds are similar on all 3 boats. Of course the people testing the Caldwell boat might have had the jackplate or trim not adjusted as efficiently as possible or the engine might not be broken in but since it turned 6300 rpm, the slip is much higher. I wonder if that is due to the notched transom or just engine height / trim adjustments. Not enough trim or engine height could also increase the slip %. However if the speed is almost the same, (it probably accelerates slower with a 27 pitch versus our 24 pitch), if it handles better, they quality is better, and it is all composite, those are all good attributes.
Did you see the list price at $126,000 !!! The guy that bought Tom's BRX told me he could not be happier, and looking at the upcharge for composite, and better handling, better quality, it would be a tough pill for me to swallow. However, in Caldwell's defense, I think the price of building boats has increased significantly due to shortages and demand. You have to pay $90 - $120K for a decent Tri-Toon right now as well.

Ive had a 300 verado and now a 400r, and never had any chine walk that wasn't able to be driven through and ultimately damped down. But I am only running 6" of setback, it seems that those that have 8" or more seem to have more issues with chine walk.

 

[Glenn Kornett]

Ive had a 300 verado and now a 400r, and never had any chine walk that wasn't able to be driven through and ultimately damped down. But I am only running 6" of setback, it seems that those that have 8" or more seem to have more issues with chine walk.

Interesting. Never considered the setback contributing to it, but perhaps it does? Do you have 6" of set back from the jack plate? If so there is another 4.5" built into the 400R midsection so you would have about 10". I think, but not certain, that some of the Verado's also had that same mid-section depending on the year? I assume that your 400R has a Sportsmaster lower unit so how high do your run the propshaft below the bottom? I have seen other members post that when they switched to a 400R / Sportsmaster their chine walking was reduced. I have owned performance boats in the past, where raising the lower unit so the prop shaft was even with the boat bottom, eliminated all the chine walking, and running it 2 - 3" lower caused violent chine walking but every boat is different of course.
With a Sportsmaster you typically have to run them higher to reduce the drag? When I ran my plate higher with the ProMax, there was definitely less chine walk. If my boat is at 70 mph or below, there is no chine walk at all. After 70 mph I am steadily correcting the wheel but I never have to lift, unless there are cross waves, or very rough water. However, I am sawing the wheel to control the chine walking all the time. When I raised my Torquemaster to about 3.25" below with the 24P ProMax, the chine walking improved noticeably. I still had to correct constantly but not nearly as much and when it hit 75 mph and then 76 mph the walking reduced further. It was not gone, because I still had to correct constantly, but it only required very slight movements and not nearly as many. What prop were you using on the 400R?
Thanks for your comments.

 

[jjg]

Interesting. Never considered the setback contributing to it, but perhaps it does? Do you have 6" of set back from the jack plate? If so there is another 4.5" built into the 400R midsection so you would have about 10". I think, but not certain, that some of the Verado's also had that same mid-section depending on the year? I assume that your 400R has a Sportsmaster lower unit so how high do your run the propshaft below the bottom? I have seen other members post that when they switched to a 400R / Sportsmaster their chine walking was reduced. I have owned performance boats in the past, where raising the lower unit so the prop shaft was even with the boat bottom, eliminated all the chine walking, and running it 2 - 3" lower caused violent chine walking but every boat is different of course.
With a Sportsmaster you typically have to run them higher to reduce the drag? When I ran my plate higher with the ProMax, there was definitely less chine walk. If my boat is at 70 mph or below, there is no chine walk at all. After 70 mph I am steadily correcting the wheel but I never have to lift, unless there are cross waves, or very rough water. However, I am sawing the wheel to control the chine walking all the time. When I raised my Torquemaster to about 3.25" below with the 24P ProMax, the chine walking improved noticeably. I still had to correct constantly but not nearly as much and when it hit 75 mph and then 76 mph the walking reduced further. It was not gone, because I still had to correct constantly, but it only required very slight movements and not nearly as many. What prop were you using on the 400R?
Thanks for your comments.

According to Merc Racing there is only an additional 1.75” of built in setback on the motor, not 4.5”. Yes I am running the sportmaster with a bravo 24fs about 1.5” below the pad. The boat handles much better with the sportmaster than with the std gearcase on my old 300 verado pro. But I have found that with smaller diameter props the handling suffers and so does ride and overall ability to stay on plane at lower speeds. Ive tested the rev 4 and it does not compare to the bravo in overall capability. Since the pro max is only rated to 300hp I will not be testing it. But in my experience on a hot day with 2 people, beer & gear, I would go with the larger diameter prop for best overall performance.
Some of the guys with the 300 optis running the small trophys on a rough day have told me its not very fun. But that tiny toy of a prop is really meant for a 20’ 1000Lb bass boat, not a 1 ton 24’ boat like the 2400.

 

[Glenn Kornett]

Thank you, I just learned something. From several videos like the one above, it was often mentioned that the AMS mid section on both the Verados and now the 300R had 4" of set back so I just assumed that was correct. Since your data came from Mercury Racing it must be more accurate. Your engine also weighs at least 100 lbs+ more than our version of the 300R, so you probably need less set back from a weight point of view. There is a post from a member in Canada that has a 24 ft Pulsare with a 400R. He switched from a Bravo FS to a ProMax and posted the question why his boat chine walks less with the ProMax and is faster? However a few weeks later he posted that his ProMax cracked a blade and never said how high he was running it, but I think he said he ran both props at the same height.
My ProMax prop is Mercury Racing part number 48-8M0079699 and the Mercury box it came in says "maximum rated HP = 450 HP. I can send you a photo of the box if you wish, but I suppose it depends on which hub you use in it, but it says to use hub 840389K06 for the 1.25" prop shaft and I have that one and it is a solid hub (no plastic parts).
I had tested 5 props, and 4 of them were 15" or more in diameter. Another member who bought Jupiter Pulsare's old boat installed a 300R and tested many props as well. The 23P Bravo FS ran slower on his than his 23P ProMax did. He then moved up to a 24.5 ProMax and ran 76 mph his best yet and a Fury 4 ran 75 mph both with Randy Corson driving. Up to that point I had been afraid of a 14.5" prop like the Promax but after seeing his results I bought a 24P ProMax new, and it ran 76 mph on my boat and the best I have run with the 24P Bravo FS is more like 73 mph. The ProMax will run higher on the jackplate than the Bravo FS without slipping on my boat. The mid range efficiency is very similar, both will cruise easily and 3100 rpm at about 30 mph with both props. The ProMax accelerates so much faster than my Bravo FS does from 3000 rpm to 5000 rpm that you can really feel it. With your gear case, you have to run it higher to reduce drag, and I totally agree a larger diameter prop on a heavy boat like ours, will likely be much better and reduce the slip. Both my 24ProMax and 24Bravo FS have slip numbers under 10% (depending on the pitch you use to calculate it). Next time I take my boat out, I will try and raise the ProMax at least 1" higher than I had it, just to find out, but it won't surprise me if it chines walks even less with the additional engine height.
Have you ever ran your jack plate much lower like say 4" below? If so was the chine walking issue any different? What rpm can you turn that 24 FS prop? I test drove a 24 BRX with a 400R in Bucyrus and the factory had a 23 Bravo FS on it with a Sportsmaster. It accelerated stronger than my 24 Bravo FS but it had a lot more HP as well.

 

[jjg]

I guess they maybe can be run over 400hp.
Mercs website still says up to 300

 

[jjg]

Thank you, I just learned something. From several videos like the one above, it was often mentioned that the AMS mid section on both the Verados and now the 300R had 4" of set back so I just assumed that was correct. Since your data came from Mercury Racing it must be more accurate. Your engine also weighs at least 100 lbs+ more than our version of the 300R, so you probably need less set back from a weight point of view. There is a post from a member in Canada that has a 24 ft Pulsare with a 400R. He switched from a Bravo FS to a ProMax and posted the question why his boat chine walks less with the ProMax and is faster? However a few weeks later he posted that his ProMax cracked a blade and never said how high he was running it, but I think he said he ran both props at the same height.
My ProMax prop is Mercury Racing part number 48-8M0079699 and the Mercury box it came in says "maximum rated HP = 450 HP. I can send you a photo of the box if you wish, but I suppose it depends on which hub you use in it, but it says to use hub 840389K06 for the 1.25" prop shaft and I have that one and it is a solid hub (no plastic parts).
I had tested 5 props, and 4 of them were 15" or more in diameter. Another member who bought Jupiter Pulsare's old boat installed a 300R and tested many props as well. The 23P Bravo FS ran slower on his than his 23P ProMax did. He then moved up to a 24.5 ProMax and ran 76 mph his best yet and a Fury 4 ran 75 mph both with Randy Corson driving. Up to that point I had been afraid of a 14.5" prop like the Promax but after seeing his results I bought a 24P ProMax new, and it ran 76 mph on my boat and the best I have run with the 24P Bravo FS is more like 73 mph. The ProMax will run higher on the jackplate than the Bravo FS without slipping on my boat. The mid range efficiency is very similar, both will cruise easily and 3100 rpm at about 30 mph with both props. The ProMax accelerates so much faster than my Bravo FS does from 3000 rpm to 5000 rpm that you can really feel it. With your gear case, you have to run it higher to reduce drag, and I totally agree a larger diameter prop on a heavy boat like ours, will likely be much better and reduce the slip. Both my 24ProMax and 24Bravo FS have slip numbers under 10% (depending on the pitch you use to calculate it). Next time I take my boat out, I will try and raise the ProMax at least 1" higher than I had it, just to find out, but it won't surprise me if it chines walks even less with the additional engine height.
Have you ever ran your jack plate much lower like say 4" below? If so was the chine walking issue any different? What rpm can you turn that 24 FS prop? I test drove a 24 BRX with a 400R in Bucyrus and the factory had a 23 Bravo FS on it with a Sportsmaster. It accelerated stronger than my 24 Bravo FS but it had a lot more HP as well.

I have never really had a chine walking issue at any JP height. My concern with a smaller diameter prop is the ride on a day with a lot of chop. My experience has been ride quality suffers the smaller you go. I tried a rev4 which is 14.625 diameter and totally made the boat ride horrible in the rough. The bravo FS just seems to lift and transfer the torque much better imo.
Keep in mind on the bravos you need to subtract .7 from the listed pitch for a proper slip calculation. For example a 24 is actually a 23.3, some prop shops call this a “mercury pitch”, and only seems to be the case mainly on the bravos. Not sure why merc does this. But a good rule of thumb to remember.

 

[Glenn Kornett]

Interesting, good comments! I have heard at least 2 comments counting yours where they felt the Sportsmaster was better for chine walking (but they were all run higher like they should be). One comment from Quebec, Canada with a 400R that walked with a Bravo FS and walked less with a ProMax but he did not specify the height besides saying both props ran at the same height. Then there are many comments from 300XS or 300 V8 that all had Torquemasters and some degree of chine walking over 70 mph, like mine. It sounds like you do not have to counter steer to balance your boat at all and your wife could drive it or you could take your hands off the wheel at 78 mph! Do you have trim tabs? I can take my hands off the wheel at 68 mph, after that, once it gets over 70 mph I am constantly correcting and the more I trim, the more I have to correct, but much less with the ProMax. The small Trophy props that Randy Corson used also appear to have less chine walk. I think a large diameter prop, buried deep with a lot of torque and HP wants to move the boat more than a smaller prop buried. Maybe a larger prop, but run higher has less twisting torque, but with the old cable steering there was always more pressure on the wheel when the engine was raised.
Maybe you are correct and it is mostly the setback and not the height, but I will raise mine next time to see if it makes any difference. I really do not have sufficiently rough water that I ever boat on to comment (besides rough from boat wakes) but I agree with you that it is common for most 4 blades, especially the larger Bravo to run better in rough water. I can plane at the same low speeds with both props. I have not had sufficiently rough water to notice any difference, yet. The ProMax lifts the back of my boat more than the FS but also lifts the bow more than the FS and it does not need as much positive trim on my set up.
I do use 23.4" when I calculate the FS slippage but it depends on who you ask. BBlades told me to use the same number you did or 23.4". Mark Croxton told me to use 24" (23.4" plus .7" for the cup) He told me to use 25" for the 24P ProMax, 24"+1" for the cup?
I did see the 150 - 300 HP rating on the Mercury Racing website just like you displayed. I also saw 150 - 400 HP rating below but that was from a Mercury dealer's website, and then I took a photo of the box my prop came in (below) from Mercury Racing, which says it can be used on 400 and 450 HP engines and is rated for 450 HP. (Mercury rates the Bravo for 600 HP!!) Perhaps Mercury changed nothing, except the posted rating just to sell to a larger market? Perhaps when the prop came out in 2013 there were no outboards larger than 300 HP, so that was the rating, and recently they produced 350, 400, and 450 HP outboards so they simply upped the rating? Of course after that we were blessed with the V12 Verado.

 

[jjg]

Interesting, good comments! I have heard at least 2 comments counting yours where they felt the Sportsmaster was better for chine walking (but they were all run higher like they should be). One comment from Quebec, Canada with a 400R that walked with a Bravo FS and walked less with a ProMax but he did not specify the height besides saying both props ran at the same height. Then there are many comments from 300XS or 300 V8 that all had Torquemasters and some degree of chine walking over 70 mph, like mine. It sounds like you do not have to counter steer to balance your boat at all and your wife could drive it or you could take your hands off the wheel at 78 mph! Do you have trim tabs? I can take my hands off the wheel at 68 mph, after that, once it gets over 70 mph I am constantly correcting and the more I trim, the more I have to correct, but much less with the ProMax. The small Trophy props that Randy Corson used also appear to have less chine walk. I think a large diameter prop, buried deep with a lot of torque and HP wants to move the boat more than a smaller prop buried. Maybe a larger prop, but run higher has less twisting torque, but with the old cable steering there was always more pressure on the wheel when the engine was raised.
Maybe you are correct and it is mostly the setback and not the height, but I will raise mine next time to see if it makes any difference. I really do not have sufficiently rough water that I ever boat on to comment (besides rough from boat wakes) but I agree with you that it is common for most 4 blades, especially the larger Bravo to run better in rough water. I can plane at the same low speeds with both props. I have not had sufficiently rough water to notice any difference, yet. The ProMax lifts the back of my boat more than the FS but also lifts the bow more than the FS and it does not need as much positive trim on my set up.
I do use 23.4" when I calculate the FS slippage but it depends on who you ask. BBlades told me to use the same number you did or 23.4". Mark Croxton told me to use 24" (23.4" plus .7" for the cup) He told me to use 25" for the 24P ProMax, 24"+1" for the cup?
I did see the 150 - 300 HP rating on the Mercury Racing website just like you displayed. I also saw 150 - 400 HP rating below but that was from a Mercury dealer's website, and then I took a photo of the box my prop came in (below) from Mercury Racing, which says it can be used on 400 and 450 HP engines and is rated for 450 HP. (Mercury rates the Bravo for 600 HP!!) Perhaps Mercury changed nothing, except the posted rating just to sell to a larger market? Perhaps when the prop came out in 2013 there were no outboards larger than 300 HP, so that was the rating, and recently they produced 350, 400, and 450 HP outboards so they simply upped the rating? Of course after that we were blessed with the V12 Verado.


View attachment 89182
View attachment 89181

With the 400 and the bravos great ability to provide stern lift, it really allows for tucking in the trim to put that bow into the rough stuff and still run low 70’s. Now don't misunderstand what I said about my setup and chine walk. Would I take my hand off the wheel at 78? NO!! Is there walk? Sure there is, but its totally controllable and able to be canceled with the proper steering input to keep it on the narrow pad. If youre in a slight turn, and start applying power and trim, she will walk until you get her going straight and upright on that narrow pad, then it will settle out. Its pretty predictable and something that you will feel out once you get more familiar with how your boat carries itself.

 

[Glenn Kornett]

With the 400 and the bravos great ability to provide stern lift, it really allows for tucking in the trim to put that bow into the rough stuff and still run low 70’s. Now don't misunderstand what I said about my setup and chine walk. Would I take my hand off the wheel at 78? NO!! Is there walk? Sure there is, but its totally controllable and able to be canceled with the proper steering input to keep it on the narrow pad. If youre in a slight turn, and start applying power and trim, she will walk until you get her going straight and upright on that narrow pad, then it will settle out. Its pretty predictable and something that you will feel out once you get more familiar with how your boat carries itself.

I understand. I can run mine at WOT and leave it there, but i am constantly correcting. I can see the bow rocking a bit while I correct but most of the time my wife can't see it. However if I take my eyes off the bow a few seconds to look at the instruments too long, she can then see it when it gets worse. If I let it get worse, it can become difficult to bring it back without trimming down and starting again but that seldom happens, and if it does it is my fault.
With the ProMax it is significantly better, but not gone. If I drive mine very slightly to the left, not a turn but the boat is very slightly moving to the left (still feels like it is going straight) it will always be a bit better for walking. I can lower or raise the bow easily with both props at higher speeds. At speeds under 35 mph I have to run full negative trim to keep it from porpoising and the bow is still up there.
I once ran a 26 Bravo (not an FS) and it came on the plane faster than the 24 FS (probably due to the diffuser?). It lifted the back of the boat more and if I added trim it still lifted good but not quite as high as the FS. Now it only ran 70 mph at 5800 rpm, but at that speed it had no chine walking. Maybe not fast enough, maybe because it lifted the back more and the bow not quite as much? The ProMax also lifts the stern more and the bow more so I don't have to trim as high, and that helps as well and it turned 6348 rpm @ 76 mph. I read that Hayabusa ran close to 83 mph with a BBlades Blaster on his 400R / 2400 Pulsare. I tried a 24 BBlades Blaster and it only ran about 65 mph at 6500 rpm with 29% slip!!! Perhaps they work way better when you surface them more, but that 14.5" diameter 4 blade prop just did not work on my engine / boat combo. The ProMax was the same diameter and pitch, but the slip was under 10% and over 10 mph faster!!!
From your comments there is no doubt in my mind that yours is much better for chine walking than mine is, but mine is easily controllable in good water conditions.

 

[jjg]

I originally started with a std bravo 24 with my 300 verado, and due to the longer tube it was lifting the stern too much and just like your experience the top end was lackluster. Then I tested the fs and it seemed like a perfect match.

 

[Glenn Kornett]

I originally started with a std bravo 24 with my 300 verado, and due to the longer tube it was lifting the stern too much and just like your experience the top end was lackluster. Then I tested the fs and it seemed like a perfect match.

Did the FS turn at least 200 rpm higher than the standard Bravo 1? My FS is a good all around prop, but just not as fast. In cool weather, it revs a bit too high and the 300R starts pulling power (you can't feel it) and that limits the speed as well. The only way around that is to add a bit more pitch or a bit more cup to get the rpm back down. You can feel the hard limiter around 6500 - 6550 rpm and I just barely felt that once when I tried the 24P Blaster. They only make the labbed ProMax in even pitches so I would have to go up to a 26P which would be too much. The standard ProMax has the Pro Finish like the Bravo FS, so call it "half labbed". If I want to gain 2 - 3 mph (3 is probably a stretch) I would have to have the 24P ProMax labbed to gain 150 additional rpm, and then have at least 1" of pitch added so it turned like a 25P. In other words, have the same low slip, act like a 25P but still turn it to 6350 rpm. I think easier said than done. Mercury removes cup from the 26P to make the 25.5, 25, or 24.5 ProMax. With the Bravo FS, they add cup to the 24P casting to make a 24.5, 25, or 25.5P Bravo FS. So a 25 FS is a soft 25P. A 25P ProMax is a soft 26P ProMax. You are lucky with the 6800 - 7000 rpm range of the 400R. You can use a lower pitch which will really accelerate strong, but you still get the top end because of the higher rpm range. Most of us have to use more pitch if we want top end and then compromise the holeshot or acceleration. Plus being around drag cars my entire life, I am sure the 400R blower motor is affected less when the density altitude increases with the summer heat.

 

[jjg]

I would say the FS turned about 100-150 rpm more than the std bravo. And the shorter barrel really settled the stern down and gave the appropriate bow lift. What gearcase are you running?

 

[Glenn Kornett]

I would say the FS turned about 100-150 rpm more than the std bravo. And the shorter barrel really settled the stern down and gave the appropriate bow lift. What gearcase are you running?

I have the Gen 2 Torquemaster. The one that has both the low water pickup in the torpedo and only 3 holes on each side from the factory with the 1.75 ratio. The engine is mounted on a 400 HP rated Atlas hydraulic jack plate with 10" of setback. I have the standard Mercury hydraulic steering. The year your boat was built, and prior to that, the BRX had the liner and seats moved forward and the long deck did not. Randy Corson used to say the long deck was always around 4 mph faster (3 - 5 mph depending on the boats) and it was mostly due to weight. I do not know what they weighed but Checkmates old website said 2200lb for the BRX and 2000 for the long deck. I doubt 200 lbs would be 4 or 5 mph. So the long deck was even more than 200 lbs lighter or had the better CG (seats and windshield moved forward) helped to run 4 mph faster?
There are many posts from members with 2400 long decks (non-liner) and 300XS 2 strokes claiming 74 - 78 mph and one guy said he went 80 mph!!! There were some that claimed slower speeds (as low as mid 60's) and low 70's was not uncommon. So I always wondered if mine would have been 3 - 4 mph faster if it was a non liner boat. Then you mention Hayabusa's 400R / BRX and I have seen posts from him saying he hit 83 mph best with a BBlades Blaster so the heavier BRX liner and seat moved forward did not seem to slow him down any??

 

[282]

I just saw a that local to me a dealer is suppose to start selling Checkmates. I don't think I have have ever seen a brand new Checkmate and I have owned 3 of them over the years. I am looking for a Bravo 23p FS for my current set up, looking for more bow lift.

 

[Glenn Kornett]

I understand. I can run mine at WOT and leave it there, but i am constantly correcting. I can see the bow rocking a bit while I correct but most of the time my wife can't see it. However if I take my eyes off the bow a few seconds to look at the instruments too long, she can then see it when it gets worse. If I let it get worse, it can become difficult to bring it back without trimming down and starting again but that seldom happens, and if it does it is my fault.
With the ProMax it is significantly better, but not gone. If I drive mine very slightly to the left, not a turn but the boat is very slightly moving to the left (still feels like it is going straight) it will always be a bit better for walking. I can lower or raise the bow easily with both props at higher speeds. At speeds under 35 mph I have to run full negative trim to keep it from porpoising and the bow is still up there.
I once ran a 26 Bravo (not an FS) and it came on the plane faster than the 24 FS (probably due to the diffuser?). It lifted the back of the boat more and if I added trim it still lifted good but not quite as high as the FS. Now it only ran 70 mph at 5800 rpm, but at that speed it had no chine walking. Maybe not fast enough, maybe because it lifted the back more and the bow not quite as much? The ProMax also lifts the stern more and the bow more so I don't have to trim as high, and that helps as well and it turned 6348 rpm @ 76 mph. I read that Hayabusa ran close to 83 mph with a BBlades Blaster on his 400R / 2400 Pulsare. I tried a 24 BBlades Blaster and it only ran about 65 mph at 6500 rpm with 29% slip!!! Perhaps they work way better when you surface them more, but that 14.5" diameter 4 blade prop just did not work on my engine / boat combo. The ProMax was the same diameter and pitch, but the slip was under 10% and over 10 mph faster!!!
From your comments there is no doubt in my mind that yours is much better for chine walking than mine is, but mine is easily controllable in good water conditions.

Went out today, and there were a few things different. It was 78*F and not 58*F, I had a full tank or at least 40 gallons of additional fuel ( that is 250 lbs more weight) and I raised the jackplate to 3" below to see if it would improve the chine walking. The boat only ran 73 mph but I ran out real estate in the cove I was in. The chine walking was almost gone, it barely required any correction and I had it trimmed out very high trying to eke out another 1 mph. So I did not run 76 mph like before, so the question is how much did the additional fuel weight reduce the chine walking, and how much did the higher jack plate height reduce it. It was by far the least chine walking at WOT I have ever experienced with this boat. Of course I will try it again in cooler weather, with all the additional fuel, and both a lower and higher jack plate height to try and answer my question. Very easy to control today!